How Relevant Is Psychology in South African Contex?

Gilbert (1997.p.13) amongst others has argued that “psychology has failed to recognise the broader mental health needs of larger section of South Africa”. What is the relevance of psychology in South Africa? How can one challenge the status quo in professional psychology? How can community psychology achieve its objective of being culturally sensitive and preventative practice as things stand in South African psychology? This paper will firstly give an overview of the history of South African psychology and thereafter it will illustrate the status quo of this profession. Lastly, this paper will sketch a path for South African psychology that will move the practitioners towards a more relevant framework for praxis.
Historical overview
The wildly known governmental policy of Apartheid affected the people of this country psychologically, as well as politically, socially, economically and medically. It did so in a variety of ways, including the humiliating effects on blacks and arrogance inducing effects on whites, the disruption of family life by the enforced migrant labour system, the slow brain development and behavioural effects that resulted from the unjustifiably widespread childhood malnutrition in this wealthy country, the world’s 6th largest food exporter, the distortions and alienations in personality development, on racial lines; the mental breakdowns and suicides that result from the physical and mental torture (Dommisse, 1986).
In addition, when mental health services were required they were grossly inferior for blacks, especially in the rural areas and particularly in out-patient care. The white doctor black patient relationship was by force the rule and was distinctly problematic in the past socio-political climate. The World Medical Association and the World Psychiatric Association have been supportive to the South African government and silent, respectively, in the face of all the documented information on this hazardous public health situation. The United Nations and its agencies, the World Health Organization and the Centre Against Apartheid, should be commended for their work and unequivocal stands on this issue and should be heeded in their calls for a principled response by more of the world’s psychiatric, psychological and medical communities (Dommisse, 1986).
Mental health services in South Africa have reflected broader class, race, gender and urban-rural inequalities. While for the privileged white minority the patient to caregiver ratio is relatively on par with western countries, however black South Africans do not have access to adequate, appropriate or relevant mental health services (Naidoo, 2000). The imbalance in mental health provision is further evident in that the population of psychologists in SA remains predominantly white, middle class, male and Afrikaans/English speaking. In addition, the majority of psychologists are clinical in specialisation focusing on individual interventions within a traditional paradigm of pathology.
They serve predominantly white, middle class clients (Swartz, Dowdall & Swartz, 1986) as cited in (Naidoo, 2000). The mental health needs of black South Africans and disadvantaged communities have been largely neglected.

The vocabularies of the psychological sciences have made two distinct but related contributions to social powers over the last century. First, they provided the terms which enabled human subjectivity to be translated into new languages of government, of schools, prisons, factories, the labour market and the economy. Second, they constituted subjectivity and inter-subjectivity as themselves possible objects of rational management, in providing the languages for speaking of intelligence, development, mental hygiene, adjustment, family relations, group dynamics and the like (Painter & Terre Blanche, 2004).
But not all of psychology was equally guilty of this pattern of either active or passive support for the apartheid system. Since the early 1980s progressive white and a growing number of black psychologists have started articulating alternative programmes and agendas for their research and practice (Painter & Terre Blanche, 2004).
These scholars and practitioners, both individually and as part of organised opposition to apartheid, not only fore-grounded and attempted to address the escalating political crises plaguing South Africa at the time (the successive states of emergency, for example, with its cycles of popular revolt and heightened state repression so coolly ignored by mainstream psychology), but also started laying bare the political unconscious of psychological science and practice itself ( Painter & Terre Blanche, 2004).
Current status of psychology
There is much debate at present around changing the professional structure of psychology to better meet the needs of South African society. It appears that the role of psychology in the New South Africa is changing, with new opportunities opening up for graduates with broad as opposed to narrow professional qualifications.
The practice of psychology in South Africa currently depends on a high level of qualification and is reserved within professional registration. Apart from the fact that this professionalization does not produce the human resources necessary to meet the social needs of the country, it is also excluding the potential enlistment of a very large number of graduates in psychology in social practice domains. In order to make an analysis of the current situation, an audit was done of professional and graduate trends in 1993/1994, and a newspaper survey of employment opportunities in 1994 for graduates in psychology was conducted (Richter, Griesel, Durrheim, Wilson, Surendorff & Asafo-agyei, 1998).
The data indicate a rapidly developing professional population, with little apparent uptake for employment in public service or the private sector. On the other hand, employment opportunities exist for graduates in the broad social sciences, mainly at a non-professional and generalist level. Job advertisements indicate that a wide range of skills are required of graduates, many of which are not reflected in current degree curricula in Psychology. It is recommended that data on social trends, together with information on the ongoing development of the psychological profession, be used to reflect on current social and psychological practice and tertiary educational curricula in psychology (Richter, et al. 1998)
The recruitment and training of clinical psychologists remain important challenges for South African psychology in the post-apartheid period. Specifically, the challenges are to address issues of equity and redress, develop relevant policy, curricula and practices, and to produce graduates who are able and willing to work in the context of diversity and disadvantage (Ahmed & Pillay, 2004).
While there is a greater degree of engagement with issues of equity and access, training still remains racially skewed and redress is largely confined to simply providing institutional access. Furthermore, the silences and insufficiency of attempts at transforming recruitment and selection processes, policy, curricula and training practices are of even greater concern. One would argue that while there are constraints to transforming training in terms of the tensions and contradictions between mainstream professional training requirements, social conditions and relevant discourses and practices, a far more substantive engagement with, and commitment to these fundamental issues is required (Ahmed & Pillay, 2004).
The tendency of individual curative therapy may not be culturally appropriate or comfortable for all sectors of the South African society especially for those cultures that are more group or collectivistic oriented (Naidoo, 2000). This preoccupation on the individual at the expense of social determinants of human behaviour and the resultant ameliorative practice of individual therapy, without examining and confronting the underlying structural societal conditions, has resulted in psychology being seen as maintaining and perpetuating an oppressive economic and political system, and psychologists being labelled as the servants of power and more specifically as servants of apartheid (Webster, 1986) as cited in (Naidoo, 2000).
What could be done?
There are many opportunities for psychologists in South Africa to become involved in some of the burning issues of the day, and that there is a great need for research investment in appropriate areas related to the societal problems that exist in the country. There are concerns about the possibility that psychology may become of little significance if the approach adopted becomes excessively academic and not relevant. Social and historical contexts cannot be ignored in attempting to understand individuals or in rendering appropriate interventions for the oppressed.
Some of the main criticisms of South African psychology are that the provision and promotion of mental health services have been inadequate, inaccessible, inappropriate and discriminatory. Psychology has been preoccupied in providing the kinds of service that serve and can only be afforded by a privileged minority. Psychology has neglected the mental health of the majority of South Africans, Psychology’s irrelevance derives from the political system and psychology’s inability to address political concerns by addressing the impact of apartheid on its victims, and Psychologists’ interventions lack the necessary broader contextual focus needed to address social problems facing South Africa (Naidoo, 2000).
Therefore emphasis should be placed on the accessibility of psychosocial services, re-defining the roles of psychologists, democratising psychological practice, prevention, competencies, empowerment of under-represented groups, collaboration, and inclusive modes of knowledge production.
Other suggestions
HPCSA should extend mental health services to all citizens, and in particular, to the historically not served, underserved and oppressed sectors of our society; Transform the way in which the etiology and development of psychosocial problems is conceptualised and understood. Include a contextual analysis that takes cognisance of social issues so as to transform the practice of psychological service delivery to include prevention initiatives that strengthen the resilience and protective functioning of high risk and vulnerable groups within disadvantaged communities in particular, and that address environmental stressors. Redefine the role of psychologists towards a broader public health portfolio that embraces the functions of advocacy, lobbying, community mobilisation, community networking, and policy formulation.

While this will likely cause a sense of confusion and resistance in the ranks of traditionally trained practitioners, such changes are necessary if psychology is to become more viable, more socially accountable and responsive to pressing societal issues.
The contentions on the scope of practice for clinical and counselling psychology should be abolished since training for these strands is similar if not the same. It is discouraging for counselling practitioners to be treated as lesser psychologists by limiting their scope of praxis even though the training is similar. The assumptions from the lower levels, (interns and psychology students) are that the limitations of the scope of practice are merely caused by monetary reasons or like in the past, there may be some politically induced hidden agendas. The challenge is, if this is not properly taken care of, there could be many negative implications in the future.

HPCSA have overlooked the growth potential of psychology as a broader discipline by the reason of entertaining controversies within. And these disputes are restricting psychology from getting deserved recognition from the South African public, by limiting the scope of practice and by reserving it for the select few, psychologies future will be bleak. Instead of focusing on helping the community, which is what is relevant now in South Africa; energy is wasted on discouraging practitioners by not opening up community psychology services centres so as to enable the job to be done.
In conclusion this paper has given a historical overview, status quo and some suggestions of South African psychology. What should make psychology relevant to the people of South Africa is when psychologists help all the inhabitants of the country regardless of their social status. By so doing the profession will take a different stance from the Western models.

References
Ahmend, R., Pillay, A.L., (2004) Reviewing clinical psychology training in the post apartheid period: Have we made any progress? South African Journal of Psychology. 38 (4), 630-656.
Dommisse, J., (1986) The psychological effects of apartheid psychoanalysis: social, moral and political influence. International Journal of Social Psychiatry: 32(2), 51-63.
Naidoo, L.V. (2000) Community psychology: Constructing community, reconstructing psychology in South Africa. Inaugural lecture. University of Stellenbosch.
Richter, L.M., Griesel, R.D., Durrheim, K., Wilson, M., Surendorff, N., Asafo-Agyei, L., (1998) Employment opportunities for psychology Graduates in South Africa: A contemporary analysis. South African Journal of Psychology. 28 (1), 1-7.
Painter, D., and Terre Blanche, M., (2004) Critical Psychology in South Africa: Looking forward and looking backwards.

References: Ahmend, R., Pillay, A.L., (2004) Reviewing clinical psychology training in the post apartheid period: Have we made any progress? South African Journal of Psychology. 38 (4), 630-656. Dommisse, J., (1986) The psychological effects of apartheid psychoanalysis: social, moral and political influence. International Journal of Social Psychiatry: 32(2), 51-63. Naidoo, L.V. (2000) Community psychology: Constructing community, reconstructing psychology in South Africa. Inaugural lecture. University of Stellenbosch. Richter, L.M., Griesel, R.D., Durrheim, K., Wilson, M., Surendorff, N., Asafo-Agyei, L., (1998) Employment opportunities for psychology Graduates in South Africa: A contemporary analysis. South African Journal of Psychology. 28 (1), 1-7. Painter, D., and Terre Blanche, M., (2004) Critical Psychology in South Africa: Looking forward and looking backwards.